Secret Wars

She's a brilliant young mutant who grew up in the superhero game. He's a roguish adventurer from the wrong side of the universe. Together, Kitty Pryde and Star-Lord are one of the most surprising and popular new couples in the Marvel Universe, known to their fans as 'Starkat'. But now, with the coming of Secret Wars, their universe is ending, and that's a big challenge for any relationship.

ComicsAlliance can exclusively reveal that the next stage of the Starkat story will take place in a new Secret Wars 'Battleworld' book called Star-Lord And Kitty Pryde, written by Legendary Star-Lord writer Sam Humphries, and drawn by Marvel newcomer Alti Firmansyah, with the first issue cover by Yasmine Putri. We spoke to Humphries to learn more.

As more and more of Marvel's Secret Wars titles are announced, the method behind the madness is slowly becoming clear; Marvel is throwing all kinds of crazy ideas at the wall to see what sticks, and it's doing it in a market where some of its blockbuster titles like Jonathan Hickman's Avengers and Brian Michael Bendis's X-Men aren't around to divert all the attention. Without these juggernauts in play, Marvel has a clearer view of the concepts and creators that can grab audience attention and stand a chance of building buzz. Here's one of the wild bets that shows particular promise; Ghost Racers, by Felipe Smith and Juan Gedeon.

Set on an infernal racetrack where bound souls compete in a no-rules dash for the finish line --- and a chance to leave the arena --- Ghost Racers brings together extreme versions of all the big name Ghost Riders, including Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch, Alejandra, and current title-holder Robbie Reyes. Judging from this unlettered preview, the contestants also include the original cowboy Ghost Rider, aka Phantom Rider, who is now a centaur with side-mounted cannons. It's going to be that kind of book. The amazing kind of book.

Marvel's announcement on Tuesday that the Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe are coming to an end, as realities collide in Secret Wars' "Battleworld," has thrown a lot of fans into a tizzy. For the long term there's a lot of confusion about which characters and continuities will survive the experience, and whether Secret Wars will end in a reboot. In the short term, there are the mysteries of Battleworld to unravel. Just which of Marvel's alternate realities will form this Frankenstein planet?

The latest Marvel Secret Wars tie-in is an unlikely story from the likeliest of sources. Garth Ennis, a writer who specializes in off-kilter war stories, is bringing back the 1960s ace pilot hero The Phantom Eagle for the second time, alongside artist Russ Braun, to pit him against a lost land of dinosaurs in Where Monsters Dwell.

The Phantom Eagle, aka Karl Kaufman, was created in 1968 by Gary Friedrich and Herb Trimpe in Marvel Super-Heroes #16 as a fantastical version of a Word War I flying ace. Ennis and artist Howard Chaykin offered an alternative spin on the character in the 2008 Marvel MAX mini-series War Is Hell -- a name borrowed from a 1970s Marvel war comic. Where Monsters Dwell is of course the title of another 1970s Marvel comic, as is the previously announced Master Of Kung Fu.

Marvel promised a "forceful" announcement on ABC's daytime talk show The View today, and the entire world was ready for a Secret Wars/Star Wars crossover comic that would pit Jar-Jar Binks against Adam The X-Treme (or something), and then... nothing. There was no Star Wars announcement. There was no announcement of any kind; it got bumped off the show. Still, someone at Marvel has hopefully learned an important lesson about not using the word 'force' to promote things that don't involve Star Wars.

What Marvel did announce today was a new Secret Wars tie-in that is legitimately exciting in its own right, just sadly overshadowed by the Star Wars announcement that never was and the epic DC announcement that kicked off the day. The real announcement, unveiled through various outlets, is a new all-female Avengers book from writers G. Willow Wilson and Marguerite Bennett, and artist Jorge Molina, called A-Force.

Marvel is ending the universe, and the publisher seems very excited about it, having announced not only an epic mush of worlds in this year’s Secret Wars event, but also a string of tie-ins under umbrella titles like Battleword, Warzones, and Last Days. It’s this final one that particularly interests us, because everyone knows what happens when you know the world is going to end. You hook up. Right? Of course you do.

On Monday you told us unambiguously that Magneto should spend his Last Days with Charles Xavier. On Tuesday you were split between Hercules, Wyatt Wingfoot and Patsy Walker on who She-Hulk might choose for a final dance. Today we look at the last of the announced Last Days titles; Loki, Agent of Asgard. As a gender-fluid shapeshifter, the trickster god of mischief has more options than most; we've tried to narrow it down to a small handful. And for argument's sake, let's assume Loki settles on just one of them.

Marvel is ending the universe, and the publisher seems very excited about it, having announced not only an epic mush of worlds in this year's Secret Wars event, but also a string of tie-ins under umbrella titles like Battleword, Warzones, and Last Days. It's this final one that particularly interests us, because everyone knows what happens when you know the world is going to end. You hook up. Right? Of course you do.

Yesterday we asked you who Magneto would get together with in his Last Days series -- and an overwhelming majority voted for Charles Xavier, to the point where it just seemed like we needn't have bothered including anyone else. Today we're looking at one of the Mighty Avengers, the Jade Giantess Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk. One of the great things about Jen is that she's a proudly liberated woman who isn't afraid to take pleasure in life, or to fill her dance card with possible suitors. But if she had to pick one someone for her final date, who would it be?

The mysteries of Battleworld, the new merged world that forms the basis for Marvel's forthcoming Secret Wars event, are slowly trickling out in the form of various tie-in titles and mini-series announcements. Thus far most of what we know either relates to Marvel Universe characters like Magneto and Loki, or describes in broad terms the publisher's plans for the various "warzones." But today Marvel announced the first specific mini-series set in a Battleworld world; Master Of Kung-Fu.

Written by Haden Blackman and illustrated by Dalibor Talajic, the series is set in the mystical land of K'un Lun and stars Shang-Chi in fight to dethrone his despotic father. Fans will know that Shang-Chi's father in old Marvel continuity was none other than Fu Manchu -- a character Marvel long ago lost the rights to. A recent retcon introduced a new identity for his father, an ancient sorcerer named Zu, and the new series looks set to cement that change.

Marvel is ending the universe, and the publisher seems very excited about it, having announced not only an epic mush of worlds in this year's Secret Wars event, but also a string of tie-ins under umbrella titles like Battleword, Warzones, and Last Days. It's this final one that particularly interests us, because everyone knows what happens when you know the world is going to end. You hook up. Right? Of course you do.

So on the assumption that each Last Days series will feature a character or characters looking for one more canoodle before the curtain drops forever, we're offering our readers a chance to weigh in on the love interests you think Marvel's Last Days protagonists should get together with, starting with the master of magnetism, the mutant in magenta, the man sometimes named Magnus (or Max, or Erik, or Gandalf); Magneto.

Perhaps the most popular American comic book writer working today, Brian Michael Bendis joined Seth Meyers on NBC's Late Night to promote his upcoming Powers TV show, and to pitch Marvel's Secret Wars event series to everyone out there in TV land. According to Variety, Seth Meyers' nightly show is seen by over 1.5 million viewers, which is surely the largest number of people to be confused by superhero comics continuity in any one moment -- at least since the original Secret Wars was published in 1984, when there were more people buying comics to be confused.

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